These are the different sprite versions I've come up while trying to find a good balance between facial expression and small size. Since I'm a total noob on pixel art I thought going small and simple was the best choice so I started animating the sprite I got, but soon after I started worrying about my ability to define different animals which such a small amount of pixels and since I come from the more traditional medium, I thought that maybe going bigger could help me because I can draw better than I can pack pixels.


I don't know how to keep improving it, guess the next step is to add colours but I would like to have a solid base first.
What's bothering me the most are these 2 pixels that are lacking outline because the whiskers are in the way.


How could I fix this?
żDo you think I'm getting somewhere?
żDo you see anything else that looks off? Please let me know, thanks.
Also if you have any idea or critique about the design and things that can work and can't please let me know.

This is the previous version in case someone want to see it:


The times are all wrong for some reason...